Cornel West

Chomsky had an influential career as a linguist before his career as a political analyst (in which he is not an expert). He is not in league with Chomsky.

Maybe he's on par with Zinn. He's probably said a lot of "interesting" things. You and I have probably said plenty of interesting things over the years. Interesting doesn't mean brilliant.

 

Maybe one difference will be that in 2016, Trump was underestimated and many voted third party as a protest vote because they thought Hillary had it locked up? Maybe just wishful thinking on my part. I also think that, rightly or wrongly, Americans are nervous about inflation and spending. I'm not sure if the socialist message is going to resonate as much as it did before we had the Covid relief bills and budgets we've had since 2016. But we're all just guessing at this point.

 

Harvard professor for many years, published and respected writer and intellect.

I enjoy listening to him and he has as good a handle on the realities of race as anyone I've ever heard.

Tampa's point is valid of course, it sure seems like Americans will have the same choice in 24 as they had in 20.

I hate to see Biden lose even one vote. Trump is a threat to the Govt, American Society and the entire world.

 

West was an Ivy League professor at Harvard and Princeton, and I dont think Chomsky's linguistic work is considered all that relevant anymore, TBH.

 

So is a third party vote a wasted vote or not?

 

Lovely. Another elderly extremist throws his hat into the ring. A more polarizing candidate would be difficult to find.

 

My question is whether he's legitimately planning to run, or running to gain access/input to the democratic platform.

 

If he stays in the race for a moment he will get support from RW PACs like we see right now with JFK Jr. The question is will he have more integrity than ego.

 

He's an Ivy league professor who hasn't published anything influential in his field. And very likely wouldn't be an Ivy league professor it he hadn't found a niche teaching Black studies and convincing people he's much deeper than he actually is.

Chomsky's work in linguistics, whether "still relevant" or not--from what I understand, there still isn't a consensus--but more importantly, had a profound impact on the field. Even if all wrong, it got many people interested who became influenced by his work.

 

Try Donald Trump. He's easy to find.

 

The effect of Ross Perot's candidacy has been a contentious point of debate for many years. In the ensuing months after the election, various Republicans asserted that Perot had acted as a spoiler, enough to the detriment of Bush to lose him the election. While many disaffected conservatives may have voted for Ross Perot to protest Bush's tax increase, further examination of the Perot vote in the election night exit polls not only showed that Perot siphoned votes nearly equally among Bush and Clinton,[109][110][111][112] but of the voters who cited Bush's broken "No New Taxes" pledge as "very important", two-thirds voted for Bill Clinton.[113] A mathematical look at the voting numbers reveals that Bush would have had to win 12.55% of Perot's 18.91% of the vote, 66.36% of Perot's support base, to earn a majority of the vote, and would have needed to win nearly every state Clinton won by less than five percentage points.[114] Furthermore, Perot was most popular in states that strongly favored either Clinton or Bush, limiting his real electoral impact for either candidate. Other than his home state of Texas, Perot gained relatively little support in the Southern states, and most of his best results were in states with few electoral votes. Perot appealed to disaffected voters all across the political spectrum who had grown weary of the two-party system. Perot's anti-NAFTA stance played a role in his support, and Perot voters were relatively moderate on hot button social issues such as abortion and gay rights.[115][116]

A 1999 study in the American Journal of Political Science estimated that Perot's candidacy hurt the Clinton campaign, reducing "Clinton's margin of victory over Bush by seven percentage points."[117] In 2016, FiveThirtyEight described the speculation that Perot was a spoiler as "unlikely".[118]

Ross Perot 1992 presidential campaign - Wikipedia

 

I meant a candidate from the undeclared ranks.

 

More concerned about RFK Jr. than West. Black voters tend to be more strategic and savvy than white leftists in voting, at least historically. But obviously all are of concern.

 

Not that I saw. I think the worry is a la Bernie in 2016, disgruntled supporters in the primary not coming home for the general

 

I'm not so sure he will get many votes. Have you ever heard him speak? Where will he get the funding to run for President?
I don't think he is particularly well known among Black americans either, particularly in swing states, but I'm not sure. And Black Americans understand election math well enough to know a vote for West is a vote for Desantis/Trump.

The premise behind Ralph Nader's Green Party run was that Al Gore and George W. Bush were similar enough that a Bush presidency was worth risking if it meant starting a viable progressive alternative to the Demcorats. But after 911, the Trump presidency, and Roberts the Supreme Court, that idea is dead.

 

Maybe it’s a ploy to siphon off RW money

 

Well said.

Except that I would call it the Thomas Court. Roberts is underrated as a GOP warrior on process issues, suppressing the vote and protecting bribery, but this latest iteration after DT is Thomas' court

 

Do you really need a ploy for that anymore? Seems like you just have to ask.